Daniel Sturridge: Chelsea FC Striker out of Olympics with Serious Illness

A few hours ago, the big news surrounding Daniel Sturridge was a £10 million offer Tottenham and their new manager manager Andre Villas-Boas were offering Chelsea for the striker.

Now, the news has suddenly turned all too serious.

After being named in the 23-man roster for team Great Britain for the London Olympics just yesterday, Sturridge's place is in serious doubt due to an illness that afflicted him over the weekend. He is currently at Paddington, West London's St. Mary's hospital undergoing tests.

In a standard preseason presser tomorrow, Roberto di Matteo will surely touch on the subject and shed a bit more light on it.

As it is being reported, a strain of meningitis is suspected to be the cause of the illness.

If you do not know, meningitis is a nervous system disease, as the membrane protecting some of the most vital organs (brain, spinal cord) becomes inflamed. Because of how close the effects are to such vital organs, the disease can be fatal.

Now, there are two types of meningitis—bacterial and viral. Bacterial is by far the worse kind. In short, it is the one that is fatal.

Viral meningitis, which is caused by such strains as West Nile virus and the herpes virus, is more common and slightly less serious. While still debilitating, it is not fatal, and symptoms fade over times ranging from two weeks to a few months.

Thankfully, doctors suspect Sturridge to be suffering from the latter, slightly less serious disease.

Now, this will surely be a blow to team Great Britain at the Olympics, but it may also be a blow to Chelsea if the disease persists.

In fact, even if he does get better on the quicker end of the spectrum, Sturridge will probably miss practices and preseason matches heading into the season. Hence, there is a good chance he will be out of form when the season begins.

All that is secondary for right now, though.

Let's all wish this young and talented Englishman with a bright future the best in his recovery.

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